THE blockade on a road leading to several Orang Asli villages in Gua Musang, Kelantan by a group linked to planters was lifted today but the villagers were not certain that their woes are over.

The men, who were allegedly acting for durian planters, had removed a pick up truck and lorry that were parked on the road between Gua Musang and the 27 villages near Pos Simpor.

The group had left this morning, said Gua Musang Orang Asli activist Mustafa Along of the Kelantan Orang Asli Village Network (JKOAK).

The planters’ makeshift blockade was put up in front of the Termiar tribe’s own wooden barricade which was used to stop loggers and plantation companies from entering the forest reserve.

The vehicle blockade was in retaliation to the Orang Asli’s own as the community attempted to prevent further destruction of the virgin rainforest they considered a lifeline.

“I was told by colleagues at the Khaleeg blockade that the men had left today. They ended their blockade of the road. This was after the community lodged a police report against them,” Mustafa told The Malaysian Insight.

“But we will still keep a watchful eye on our blockade in case they return,” said Mustafa who is in charge of a different logging blockade in Cawas.

Two days ago, the men had tried to gain access into the land that allegedly belong to the plantation company.

After being barred by Orang Asli manning the blockade, the men parked their vehicles on the road and stopped villagers from going in and out of 27 villages.

These villagers from Pos Simpor, Pos Tohoi and Pos Gop rely on the road as their only method of getting to the outside world.

The group even halted a van that was supposed to pick up a sick person from Pos Gop and had obstructed teachers from travelling from Pos Tohoi to Gua Musang.

Lawyer Siti Kassim, who has represented the community in the past, had posted on Facebook that her clients were threatened with bodily harm by the men.

Orang Asli support group, the Centre of Orang Asli Concerns (COAC) said the men had wanted access to land that had been logged and cleared in order to start planting durians.  

Today, Kota Baru MP Takiyuddin Hassan said the Kelantan government will demolish all blockades whether they are set up by Orang Asli or plantation companies. – July 31, 2018.